For entrepreneurs, choosing opportunities that will best suit a business’s strengths is part of the strategic planning process. Strategic planning results in some guiding ideas that serve to unify the company’s activities, chiefly, the vision and mission statements. (See All References.) These provide the direction and purpose of a company’s actions. Goals follow from mission and vision.

Mission Statement

The mission statement of a business justifies and explains its reason for existence. (See All References.) For example, a spice company might have a mission to sell spice blends to restaurants that become as indispensable as salt and pepper. As the company’s purpose, the mission should guide everything the company does. At every organizational level, individuals can use the mission to evaluate priorities. If a proposed course of action doesn’t further the mission, it shouldn’t be pursued.

Vision

A company’s vision is its ultimate goal, its interpretation what success will look like in the future when the company accomplishes its purpose. (See All References.) The vision statement translates the mission’s statement of purpose into a specific destination that implies or explicitly states action. For instance, our fictional spice blend company might adopt a vision that sees its product on every North American restaurant table in a decade. The company’s vision shapes the organization’s goals, especially and most directly the company’s strategic goals, which are long-term aims.

Goals

The goals that come out of creating the mission and vision are strategic — that is, they fulfill the company’s strategic plan. They take at least a year — often several years — to carry out, and further the organization as a whole. Short-term goals, the company’s tactical objectives, take up to a year to achieve. Every tactical objective that is completed brings the company closer to fulfilling its strategic goals. Operational goals deal with day-to-day operations, carrying out tactics on the front line. Employees bring them to completion in a single day, a week or a month.

Process

Sometimes new developments in the marketplace present opportunities outside the scope of the company’s current mission. If an opportunity is sizable enough, the owner may decide to reevaluate the mission. This reevaluation involves a deep analysis of the company’s situation, usually by conducting a SWOT analysis. (See All References.) During a SWOT analysis, the owner evaluates the internal and external circumstances confronting the company, then decides whether the mission needs to be rewritten. If so, then a new vision and new goals must also be formed.

The Statements

Mission and vision statements are meant to be used, not written and left closed up inside a company manual. They should be simple — no jargon and gobbledygook bogging them down — and they should reflect the company’s personality. After all, not only will the statements inspire action within the company, to interested outsiders they will serve as an explanation of the company itself. (See Reference 3.) The owner must keep the mission, vision and goals relevant and part of the company’s everyday activities, rewarding those who uphold them.

About the Author

Sophie Johnson is a freelance writer and editor of both print and film media. A freelancer for more than 20 years, Johnson has had the opportunity to cover topics ranging from construction to music to celebrity interviews.